Printing type



0a. 19, 1943. G, CHISH'OL M 2,332,437

PRINTING TYPE Filed Dec; 17, 1940 Patented Oct. 19, 1943 1 1 2,332,437 a RI 1 George Chisholm, New York, N. meant Deanna 17, lane, salami; 3910154 8 Claims; (01. ion-381) The invention relates to hand-set type for printing, and more particularly the larger sizes of type. r One object of the invention-is to reduce the cost ofthe type, and'another object is to reduce the amount of storage space required. It is characteristic of the invention that; there :are a body unit and one or more face units which when assembled together give movable type-high type for printing. r .7 c a it In the drawing: i Y a Fig. 1' is a perspective View of a preferred form p inted in proof form on a scalev generally niuch l larger' than thedesiredfinal form, and theprinting is produced fronrvthese'enlarged proofs by 1 methods which need'n'ot be discussedhere. This is particularly true in advertising or any other printin Where hand-drawn matter is included.

Satisfactory large-size type is therefore of greater 3 importance than heretofore, and type made in accordance with my invention being comparatively inexpensive and less bulkythan the old style, the letters can be stocked and handled in of printing type made in accordance with the invention, showing. the-body unit being used as a composers stick for assembling the face units,

with the locking sideplates shown separate;

Fig. 2 is an assembled view in vertical crosse section of the form shown in Fig. 1, taken through the face and body units on the line 2:2 of Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is an assembled view in Vertical cross.- sectionsin ilar to Fig. 2, of a'form'of'the inven- J tion particularly suitedfor an extra large sizeof type; H .i v

Fig. 4 is a View in side elevation of the assembled printing type of Figs. 1 and 2, with one of the side plates partially broken away to show the spacing elements more clearly? Fig. 5 is an assembled view in vertical cross section ofa form of the invention for a size of type intermediate thosashown in Eigs, 2 and 3; while I X :Fig. 6 is an assembled view inyerticafcrosssectionof a modified form of'the invention, a d

In the printing art it is 'generally customary to use hand-set type for the larger sizes of letters,

say, for example, from 18 p oin'tnpwards It tal res" 5 a large amount of type metal to cast these large letters, and they are correspondingly heavy and costly. To store a font of any size, considerable storage'space is required in addition to'the initial investment in the type,'and -partially'owing to the weight of the .individualletters thei frequent- 1y become nicked or damaged so that they can no longer be used. To overcome these disadvannumber of operations. 1 It willalsobe obvious that the cost of storage Space of a font of-ty-peis much tages; I propose that the :usualtype-high characters be made of a body unit and a shallow face unit which are complementally shaped to permit their easy assembly and to hold the face unit in proper alinement. Preferably; though not necessarily, the body unit ma be of such length as to receive a plurality of face units or letters and it is convenient to have this body equal in length to the width of the line of type being set.

A large proportion of theprintingof the present day i done by methods of reproduction in v which the Wording and other material are first many places where the-told style type would not This isfparticularly so When it vis; noticed that the'type inthemethods of printingabove referred to is not used in any press work;

be practical.

but is -merely calledupo'n .for .freproduction proofs-f One importantffeature of the invention is that the main part. or basic body element of the body unit is so grooved or shapedon its upper face on-edge that this ,basic body can be used as a composerfs stick, lnthis way-a line of. the face unit can be assembled byhand in proper alinement and changed'at will as freely as in'a c mr posing-stickwithout; the necessity for-use of any such device. When the row offace units has been assembled and alined by'beingplaced in the basic-body; element, thecunits can'be fastened in accurate position by -locking means which-may; either be integral with the basic body element orseparate elements of thebody unit, such-as side plates, In this-way; the lineoftype-high characr ter-s is assembled and lockedwith a minimum reduced and that the-weight of the'units having characters thereon is alsomuchreduced, thereb minimizingtheliability of dama e.- 7 c Referring now to :the" drawing, the preferred form" of the invention isf'shown in-F igsrl tab.

The most important element in the body unit is the basic body element lflitself. This is prefer? ably of a height slightly less than type height and in length is equal to the length of line being ;used for the particular joh, The thickness or point siaedimension H of this bodywillapproximatethe'point size of the font afterallowing for the side elements which are used to lock the faceunits in place; The upper edge of the basic bod-y element is shaped in a fashion complemental to v the shaping of the face unit, and in Figs. 1 to 5 itis grooved as follows. There is a straight central groove or slot lz running longitudinally theentire length of the body element adapted to receive and aline the face units. It is preferably not undercut. On each sideof this slot is a narrow supporting ledge l3 at the maximum height of the body. From the outer edges of the ledges l3 the upper face slopes downwardly at M to outer ledges l5 which may, if desired, be at the same level as the bottom of the slot I2. I shall next describe the cooperating structure of the fact units and side elements.

The basic face-unit is the unit 20 which has a character or printing surface 25 mounted on the flat face portion 26 thereof. This face portion need be only thick enough to resist deformation under printing pressure. In the embodiment now being described the under side of the face portion is adapted to rest on the central ledges l3 and this brings the character 25 to type height. Depending from the face portion are legs which facilitate the assembly and subsequent locking of the units of type together. There is a central leg 2| adapted to lit in the central slot [2 in the 7 body element l and this interfitting insures proper alinement 'of the characters on the body. By making the slot without undercut it is possible easily to place the face units in the body element ID at any point along its length. It is therefore possible to hold the body element NJ in the left hand and use it as a composers stick in assembling the face elements. This avoids the necessity of transferring loose type from the composers stick to the galley and from the galley to the makeup table, inasmuch as the body element I0 makes a single unit out of the entire line of type. If desired, the central slot l2 can terminate a short distance from the one end of the body element H! to facilitate adjustment of the length of the line.

In addition to the central depending leg which is generally made vertical, i. e.,at right angles to thefaceportion of the unit, one or more other depending legs are provided, shaped to assist in supporting, positioning and locking the body units together. In this particular embodiment these particular legs consist of two outwardly flaring legs 22, one on each side of the central leg fastened to the under side of the face portion 26 a little distance from the outer edges thereof 1 and preferably spaced from the central leg a dis tance equal to the width of the central supporting ledges l3. This leaves an overhang 23 on the underside of the face portion at the outer edges. These legs 22 are flared at an angle equal to the angle of the locking slopes I 4 and are just long enough to contact the outer ledges I on the body element Hi. It thus will be seen that when acharacter face unit 20 is placed on the upper edge of the body element l 0, the face unit is not only held at type height and in proper alinement with the other face units in the line, but is also solidly supported against turning or rocking in any direction and yet at the same time can be removed and replaced freely. When the desired sequence of face units has been assembled in the body element l0, the line is ready to be locked, and this is accomplished by side elements I which I shall now describe.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 4 these side locking elements consist of thin side plates 30, one placed along each side of the basic body element I0, the thickness of the basic body element and the side plates being so adjusted that they equal the point size of the font of type. Extending preferably for the entire length along the upper edge of each locking side element 30is an inwardly facing flange 3|, flat on the top, sloping on the underside at the angle of the outer surface of the flaring legs 22 of the face units. These side plates 30 are of such height that the flange fits in under the lower side or overhang 23 of the outer edges of the face units when the lower edges of the plates are even with the bottom of the body element it. In this way support is provided for the outer edges of the face portion 26 of the face unit. In addition it will be noted that the inter locking engagement of the flanges 3| with the flaring legs 22 is such that the face units are locked against being lifted off the body element I0, and when the assembled device is locked up on the makeup table, all the elements are rigidly held in place against movement in any direction. It will also be noted that the flaring legs 22 do not extend outwardly to the full point size dimension of the type, but end with the outer ledges of the body element on which they rest so that the side locking elements can clamp not only the face units but also the body element Hi.

It is frequently desirable to space letters in a line of type of the larger sizes, but it will be apparent than any piece of metal small enough to give say a one or two point separation of the character face units would be so small as to be awkward to handle. -I have therefore devised the following structure which may be used in connection with the invention above described, if desired, to give a spacing element of more easily handled dimensions. This spacing element is a face unit of slightly different character but having preferably the same kinds of legs as the'character face units. The spacing element 40, while it has a depending leg M and flaring legs 42, has a face portion 43 which is thinner than the face portion 26 of the character face unit 20, preferably being say half the thickness. The face portions of the character units 26 are about equal in thickness to an electrotype, The face portion 43 of the spacing element 40 is about the thickness of a half tone. This face portion 43 is mounted on legs which are as wide as the face portion, and is made say three times the width of the desired space between the letters. Thus if a 2-point space is desired between the letters, the spacing element 40 will be 6 points wide. When using these spacing elements, the character face units have an undercut 24, the legs and sufficient of the face portion 26 being cut away so that the spacing element can slide in under the character face unit from the following side. This undercut may be standardized in the amount to which it is undercut and will be lesser in depth than the spacer element. Thus for example, the undercut may extend under the character face unit for four points if the spacer unit is 6 points in width. It will be seen that when the two face units are assembled the spacer unit extends 2 pointsbeyond the face portion 26 of the character unit, thereby spacing two adjacent character units 'two points away from each other. With the exception of this undercut on one side of the character face units, the legs of all the face units extend across the full width of the um't, and as a result the legs of the face units of the entire line are in contact with each other, further insuring that there will be no rocking of the face units. The method of spacing just described can be seen clearly in Fig. 4. If spacing elements are not used the depending legs on the character units are the full width of the units.

By making my letters in two parts with the face elements constituting only a small portion of the type height, it becomes unnecessary to use expensive type metal-for. the body units and they can be made of brass or anyother suitable material. To reduce the liability'of damage to the printing characters, part of the face portion of. the letter elements can bemade of any suitable resinous. compound or other plastic which has will be obvious that some additional means willbe necessary to take care of larger fonts, particularly as the sizes of the faces will run to a multiple of several'times 18 point. I'will now describe the "means whereby the body elements previously described can be usedi'n an" assembly adaptedto handle faces of any multiple of the basic point size. Let us first consider the construction of the face units. 'In Fig. has

been shown an assembled line'of type in which the characters are three timesas high as the basic construction of Figs. 1- andZ. Thus if the assembled type of Fig 2 is an 13-point face, the type in Fig. 3 is a 54-point letter. i V

In this construction-the face unit 26 and the basic body element 10 are compleinentally shaped in the same manner as the 18-point construction of Fig. 2, but the face unit 2%) extends beyondthe basic element [0 at top and bottom of the letter on each side a distance of 13 points plus the thickness of the-side plates In the drawing I have shown an additional flared leg 2'! at the top and one at the bottom of the character in the point dimension, spaced from the top and bottom of the character in the same manner as the flaring legs 22 of Fig. 2, so that whenthe side plates 3!) are placed in position they engage these extra flaring legs 27 and are flush on the outside with the edge of the letter. Underneath these extra flaring legs 2? and filling the space between the side plates 36 and the basic body element H) are additional body spacing elements 15. These have locking slopes Hi and outer ledges iii in the same manner as the basic body unit but only at one side so that they present a broad high upper edge I? for the support of the face portion 26 of the face unit 28 between the basic body element lil and the side plates 3E1. Preferably these spacer elements also have flanges 32 at their inner upper edges which hold the central flaring legs 22 and lock them in position in the same manner as the flanges 3! in the 18-point assembly of Fig. 2. Probably it will not be necessary to have the extra flared legs unless the point size of the face is say over 72 points.

It is also possible to adapt this system to sizes in between multiples of the point size of the basic body assembly. This adaptation is shown in Fig. 5. If the basic body assembly is 18 point and it is desired to use a face of point, the basic body element It may be 14 points in thickness and will be used with side plates ll whose normal thickness of say 2 point has been increased by 6 points to say 8 point. In this case the 14-point basic body element plus the two side plates of 8 point give the desired 30-point size. It thus will be noticed that I have provided auxiliary body elements of two kinds: those which can be used between the central flaring legs and outer flaring legs, and those which can be used where the face of the type is wider than the basic body assembly but has .no outer flarin less. With this arrangement all point sizes of type face from the.

basic body assembly upv can be properly supported and held with a minimum number of types of 1 base elementaand it is not necessary to have a basic body element. of'each point size. It will also be noted that a plurality of side plates are not needed in addition to spacing elements when extra large faces are-used with extra flaring legs,

and it isnever necessary to have more thanone. However, it is within side plate on each side. the scope of myzinvention to use sideplates between the basic body element and the auxiliary spacing body elements if desired, as well as outside the auxiliary spacing body elements;

The construction described above is only one of various manners of complemental grooving of the body and face units, which would be within the scope of my invention, and I have for example shown in Fig. 6 an embodiment of my invention which does away with the necessity of side plates.

ment is split into two halves 35, 36 on the median longitudinal line 39 vertically and they are made of such thickness that when squeezed together they will grip tightly the face units-placed in them. The upper face of each half in this modification consists of a'dovetail or flanges! correflange extending to the median line split separat- ,ing the two halves. The flange is of such depth that the face portion and flaring legs of the face unit fit into them as usual and the vertical central leg overlies the median split line 39 between the two halves. The space between the flaring legs and the vertical legs is not filled in this case. For composing purposes the halves can be held a slight distance apart, or, if desired, only one half need be held in the hand and laid over on its side so that the flaring legs on the-under surface of the face portion can be engaged on the dovetail or flange to hold them in place until the complete line is assembled, when the other half is placed in position and the whole can be clamped togethen Many modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of my invention will occur to those skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. A single line of printers movable type com- I prising one or more shallow face units having depending legs and a basic body element having a groove in the upper face thereof adapted to perrnit said body to act as a composers stick to hold the face units in alinement, in combination with elements fitting along the sides of the body elements to hold the face elements against removal.

3. A single line of printers movable type comprising one or more shallow face units and a body unit comprising a basic bodyelement and side plates, said face, units and body unit being complementally slidably grooved to permit free placement of the face units on the body unit as on a composing stick, the grooving in the basic body In this construction the face units arev the same as heretofore, but the basic body eleelement'holding the face elements in alinement at type height, and the grooving in the side plates locking the elements in position and supporting same. T

4. A single line of printers movable type comprising one or more shallow face units and a basic body unit, said face and body units being complementally grooved, said body unit comprising a basic body element adapted to act as a composers stick for said face elements'and'hold them in alinement at type height, and side plates locking said face units in position and supporting same.

5. Printers movable type comprising one or more shallow face units having depending legs and a body unit comprising a basic body element and side elements, said basic body element being shaped along its upper face so that it can act as a composers stick and said side elements being,

shaped to interlock with the legs of the face unit to hold them in position and support them.

6. Printers movable type comprising one or more shallow face units with depending legs, in combination with a body unit comprising a basic body element grooved on its upper face to act as a composers stick for the face units and hold them in alinement by engaging a leg of each face unit, and side body elements adapted to interlock with said face units to hold them in position, saici body unit supporting said face units at type height.

7. Printers movable type comprising one or more shallow face units each having legs depending from the face portion thereof, said legs including a leg flaring in each direction but not extending beyond the edge of the face portion, in combination with a body unit comprising a basic body element supporting said face units at type height by contacting the inner faces of the flaring legs, and two or more side body elements engaging the upper faces of the flaring legs and underneath the edges of the face portion of the face units, whereby the face units are locked in position on and supported by the body unit.

8. Printers movable type comprising the combination of a plurality of shallow face units and a single body unit to support them, said face units comprising character elements each having a face portion on which the character to be printed is located, and depending portions for interlocking engagement with the body unit, said depending portions being recessed for a distance of one or more points from the one edge of the face portion, and spacing face units each adapted to underlie the face portion of a character face unit and to interlock with the body unit, said spacing unit being adapted to extend beyond the undercut edge of the face portion so as to space two adjacent character face units, said body unit being adapted to support the face units in alinement at type height.

GEORGE CHISHOLM. 

